Man Utd star thanks Solskjaer for ‘trust’ but needs to ‘kick on’

Jo Harrison

Andreas Pereira has revealed that he always thought he would be given a chance at Manchester United.

The midfielder joined United’s academy at the age of 16, and has since gone on to make more than 70 appearances for the senior team.

More than half of those appearances have come this season, with the 24-year-old having been shown faith by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – although he hasn’t always heard the final whistle.

Pereira has now opened up on his future ambitions at Old Trafford, praising Solskjaer for the trust he has given him.

“Even when I came to United at such a young age, going to United it’s, of course, a massive club, but I know that they are willing to give youth a chance,” he told ManUtd.com.

“That is what happened with me. Ole knows we will always be there for him. The young players give our faith and do everything to protect him, as he gives all his trust to us.

“I’m very honoured and that’s why, as well, I want to stay at United. I want to fight for him, win games and win trophies.

“Getting there, it’s tough but staying at the top is the most difficult. You can get some stick sometimes. You can get glory days, bad days but the most important thing is to just keep your head down and keep working because at the end of it all if you work hard everything is going to be fine.”

Despite Pereira’s increased involvement, he hasn’t quite earned widespread praise yet, with former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves one of those to deny he is good enough to be a regular starter.

But reflecting on the season so far in a separate interview with ESPN, Pereira revealed that he is satisfied with how he has done when deployed in his preferred position – while admitting there is room to improve.

“The start of the season was good for me – I started a lot of games. In December and January, I felt a bit tired because I’d played a lot of games in a row.

“I had to cope with that. It was the first season, really, that I did that at United.

“I’ve played a lot of different positions, and when I’ve played in my favourite position as an attacking midfielder, I played well, I was important and created a lot of occasions. That’s my goal: to play in my position more often and show the manager I can be important there.

“I don’t think I’ve shown my full potential yet. When I’m playing more freely, I can show my real quality.

“This season, I really feel that the manager and the players can trust me to do my best for the team. I’m there. I will never hide. I will always show my face for the manager and for the club.

“It’s really a year for me to show that I’m here and now it’s time to kick on and play better.”